LIVING ABUNDANTLY FROM THE INSIDE OUT
By Kate Mrgudic, M.A.
Next Steps Coaching and Consultation Services
www.katemrgudic.com: 213-434-0356
katemrgudic(at)gmail(dot)com
Lesson 3: Capture the Teachings of the Fall Equinox
This is a departure from my previous articles. As a coach for both individuals and organizations, I want to share some thoughts on this time of the year as it is a wonderful metaphor for how growth and expansion occur.
This is a more personal note as we celebrate the Fall Equinox, the Harvest Time. I am sitting in my garden near the fountain appreciating the gentle sound of water flowing, the bees buzzing among my California native plants in bloom, gazing at the final remnants of my veggie garden giving their last spurt of creative juice. The zucchini plants just won’t give up. The rest of the plants – tomatoes, peas, green beans, onions, among them, are gone, replaced with fresh compost. The beds are resting, getting replenished for the winter planting in October.
The harvest is such a special and powerful time. We pause and embrace what we planted in the spring, nurtured through the summer and now have harvested. Not everything planted took hold. So it is also a time to reflect on what didn’t happen and what that means to each of us. For me, there are still issues unresolved that will need tending again in the next cycle, a couple I am releasing as no longer important in my life and a couple I am so grateful for coming into such deep fruition. These will remain with me.
The harvest sometimes is misconstrued solely as a time of completion. It is, of course, completion for some concrete matters that you may have pursued, i.e. a home project, some new learning, a career move, a baby in your arms. It may also be a time when something that was a seed of vision is now clearer in your mind. These last many months may have been a time to experiment, to weed out what no longer works for your life path. It may be a time when a neglected perspective reemerges and energizes you into some new phase. It may be a conclusion to grief work that frees you to be more of who you really are.
This time is also for releasing what no longer is necessary. As I dug up the plants that had become brown with age, or covered with opportunistic bugs, or were clearly just finished with their bounty, I was both sad to let go of these living plants but also deeply comforted that their demise in the compost bin would give way to new life, a release of new energy. This season is also one of letting go and loss.
Master gardener Althea Godfrey recently wrote a wonderful reminder for this time of the year. She said that when you stick your trowel into the earth, you destroy the soil community. But it doesn’t declare war or go on strike. Instead, it rebuilds itself and produces flowers and vegetables for you.
The Fall Equinox on the evening of September 22 represents the perfect balance between sunlight and night’s dark. It is time to both rejoice in the bounty of our harvest and release what is finished in this cycle and perhaps permanently.
Please take some time as the Equinox approaches to appreciate what you have harvested, write it down, share it with a loved one, and celebrate its manifestation. Allow space in your life to release what is no longer necessary, to allow an opening that is unfettered for a time that soon enough will begin to fill again. Let this unfettered time be part of the rebuilding that will produce your own version of vegetables and flowers in the spring.
Happy Harvest!
